The Minimum Wage Eats Restaurants

[bcking 3,157]

5 hours ago, OriZ said:

lol, thanks. Where ya goin?

 

Well when I wrote that I was in Anchorage. Then I was in Whittier and now I'm on my way to the Hubbard Glacier. Glacier Bay, Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan are to come. In case that didn't give it away we're on a cruise in Alaska. I hear you though, I started planning this as soon as we got back from Vegas last year. If I went to Ecuador the Galapagos would be a definite stop.

Our trip to Ecuador was short since I used a lot of vacation days this year to visit my wife while waiting for the visa. So the trip was specifically to stay at a lodge in the Amazon. We figure we'll combine Galapagos with Peru.

 

Alaska is beautiful. I did a cruise like that with my family when I was a kid.

 

Our next trip is an obligatory one to see family. So we need to decide on a real one after that. We are cutting back on a lot of options right now because of zika which is why I'm looking into Africa.

[Dashinka 25,856]

1 hour ago, bcking said:

Our trip to Ecuador was short since I used a lot of vacation days this year to visit my wife while waiting for the visa. So the trip was specifically to stay at a lodge in the Amazon. We figure we'll combine Galapagos with Peru.

 

Alaska is beautiful. I did a cruise like that with my family when I was a kid.

 

Our next trip is an obligatory one to see family. So we need to decide on a real one after that. We are cutting back on a lot of options right now because of zika which is why I'm looking into Africa.

Have you been to Antarctica?  This is on my bucket list one of these years. 

[bcking 3,157]

Just now, Bill & Katya said:

Have you been to Antarctica?  This is on my bucket list one of these years. 

No but my wife, as a geologist, would love to go. I believe we will end up exploring the hinterland of Greenland before Antarctica. Just for accessibility reasons.

 

Trips to Antarctica are also rather expensive. While I'm not opposed to spending a lot on travel I would want to cross of some expensive African trips before something like Antarctica. Okavango Delta is highest for me so I'm looking into Botswana right now.

 

Honestly there are just too many places. A long trip to India is also on my list, as well as Bhutan. We are still young (I'm 30 in about 4 weeks). Our love for travel though definitely makes us think harder about timing of children.

[TBoneTX 47,505]

3 hours ago, bcking said:

Our trip to Ecuador was [...] specifically to stay at a lodge in the Amazon.

Where in the Amazon (town or nearest town name)?

[bcking 3,157]

3 minutes ago, TBoneTX said:

Where in the Amazon (town or nearest town name)?

We stayed at a lodge called La Selva. You fly into Quito and then they arrange a flight to Coca. It's about a 3 hour boat ride down the Napo river.

 

It isn't on the Amazon river itself, but it right along the Yasuni National Park, which has some of the greatest biodiversity (and several groups of "undiscovered peoples") even within the Amazon rainforest. 

 

It was an awesome trip. We spent 4 days, 5 nights there. They put you in a small group with a Naturalist guide and a local guide who was born and raised in the area. We went during an "off time" (which for the area doesn't really matter since it is so close to the equator the weather hardly changes) so we actually were the only ones in the group. We are amateur bird watchers, and identified 60 species of birds. Also saw 7 or 8 species of monkeys, bats, caymen, turtles, about 7 or 8 frog species, spiders (tarantulas), lots of other crazy insects, a couple snakes. We found tapir tracks followed closely by jaguar tracks (but unfortunately did not see the actual animals). Our guides were awesome, and the food was 3 course meals every lunch and dinner.

 

From talking to other people it is very different from the Galapagos. You need to have patience to spot animals, whereas in the Galapagos it is basically like a zoo. We quite enjoyed it though.

[TBoneTX 47,505]

Glad that it was enjoyable.  I'll ask Mrs. T-B. if she's heard of the location.  Her hometown is on the edge of the Amazon.

Incidentally, neither she nor I have been to the Galapagos, nor do we have pressing interest to go.

[bcking 3,157]

Just now, TBoneTX said:

Glad that it was enjoyable.  I'll ask Mrs. T-B. if she's heard of the location.  Her hometown is on the edge of the Amazon.

Incidentally, neither she nor I have been to the Galapagos, nor do we have pressing interest to go.

We honestly never had that much interest either, but speaking with our guide and the other guests at the Lodge (most of which were doing a combo trip since the average age was significantly higher/they were all retirees), it sounds like pretty good fun. We aren't a huge fan of the huge crowds and are always worried about the impact that has. I know the Galapagos is a closely regulated place to minimize it, but it still bothers us somewhat. 

 

We'll see how we get on with Africa. I've heard some of the places there have also become incredibly inundated with people as well.

[IAMX 3,055]

34 minutes ago, TBoneTX said:

Where in the Amazon (town or nearest town name)?

Looking for someone to bust some kneecaps in Guayaquil?

Edited May 18, 2017 by IAMX

[TBoneTX 47,505]

1 minute ago, IAMX said:

Looking for someone to bust some kneecaps in Guayaquil?

We're about 9 years too late for that, sigh man...

[IAMX 3,055]

Just now, TBoneTX said:

We're about 9 years too late for that, sigh man...

I was sleepless a few nights ago and read that thread.. my condolences for all the people going through that.  

[OriZ 3,165]

16 hours ago, IAMX said:

Interesting.. one of my buddies made this exact trip, not only the cruise around Alaska (Glacier Bay, Juneau, Ketchikan are eerily familiar places) a few years ago but Ecuador last year. Are you a photographer?

Nope

 

12 hours ago, Teddy B said:

We're going to Grand Cayman Island for a week, we leave Sat morning.

 

I've done the Alaskan Cruise, been to all of those ports, it's a lot of fun.

Have fun!

 

11 hours ago, bcking said:

Our trip to Ecuador was short since I used a lot of vacation days this year to visit my wife while waiting for the visa. So the trip was specifically to stay at a lodge in the Amazon. We figure we'll combine Galapagos with Peru.

 

Alaska is beautiful. I did a cruise like that with my family when I was a kid.

 

Our next trip is an obligatory one to see family. So we need to decide on a real one after that. We are cutting back on a lot of options right now because of zika which is why I'm looking into Africa.

For next year we'll probably do Roatan and Utila in Honduras, I wanna get to do some serious diving again after a while.

[TBoneTX 47,505]

11 hours ago, IAMX said:

I was sleepless a few nights ago and read that thread.. my condolences for all the people going through that.  

Thank you, si and sigh man.  Consular staff turn over every 2 or (at most) 3 years, so the culprits are long-gone.

This poor guy got hosed worse than any of us:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/180306-guayaquil-consulate-administrative-process/

 

And if you're sleepless (or even not), this one might be worthwhile:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/382775-mrs-t-b-the-citizenship-test/

 

[IAMX 3,055]

9 hours ago, TBoneTX said:

Thank you, si and sigh man.  Consular staff turn over every 2 or (at most) 3 years, so the culprits are long-gone.

This poor guy got hosed worse than any of us:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/180306-guayaquil-consulate-administrative-process/

 

And if you're sleepless (or even not), this one might be worthwhile:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/382775-mrs-t-b-the-citizenship-test/

 

I had intended to ask about whether or not things have changed but didn't want to hijack the thread too much. You just answered it for me anyways.

 

At least there's a silver lining.